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MH370 Beacon Battery May Have Been Expired

Posted by timothy on from the for-want-of-a-nail dept.

New submitter Limekiller42 writes Malaysia's transport ministry released its preliminary report on the disappearance of MH370 that disappeared almost a year ago during flight and has yet to be located. The report states that the maintenance records for the solid state flight data recorder underwater locater beacon [indicate that its battery] expired in December of 2012 and there is no evidence it was replaced prior to aircraft going missing.

3 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. And that's half the story by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    They were also carrying a load of lithium batteries, which other passenger airlines refuse to carry due to past accidents

    "It confirms that a large consignment of lithium-ion batteries was aboard the Boeing 777 and outlined in a red box was the warning: “The package must be handled with care and that a flammability hazard exists if the package is damaged. Special procedures must be followed in the event the package is damaged, to include inspection and repacking if necessary.”"
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/a...

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    Wherever You Go, There You Are
    1. Re:And that's half the story by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

      They were also carrying a load of lithium batteries, which other passenger airlines refuse to carry due to past accidents

      You make it sound like Malaysian Airlines is the odd one out in allowing shipments, when infact the norm at the time of MH370 was to allow lithium battery shipments - sure, some airlines had bans in place already (Cathay, BA) but others such as United Airlines put their restriction in place just this month, while Delta put theirs in during February.

  2. Re:What about military satellites by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    The satellites in question would have to be looking for the signal - GPS and GLONAS are passive systems, they send signals out in a broadcast sense, not a 1:1 client communication sense, so there is nothing for them to track.